A Brief History of Rekendyke Industrial Estate

Cell Pack Solutions is currently situated at the Rekendyke Industrial Estate (6 West Walpole Street). Many other companies are also situated in the Rekendyke area too, such as The Punjab Kitchen and Hi-Spec Plastics. Did you know the Rekendyke area has a history of industrial businesses and has been an active area since the Roman occupation of Britain?

Originally called ‘Cear Urfa’, which translates roughly to mean, ‘near’, or on, ‘the river banks’. There exists evidence of mining and even irrigation in ‘Cear Urfa’, and a road that connected Arbeia (The Roman Fort at South Shields) to ‘Cear Urfa’ (Rekendyke Estate). The road was named Recken-Dyke, which later replaced the name of ‘Cear Urfa’. So as you can see there is some pretty interesting history of our current location and shows it’s importance then and now to industry in South Shields.

Chichester, Laygate and Tyne Dock were known for their industrial uses, back in the time of the industrial revolution. In fact, Tyne Dock was originally known as Jarrow Docks. The Rekendyke area was involved in both coal mining and Ship building.

In 1834 the railway system brought even greater capacity to trade goods and offer a new way of travel. Goods were carried by ‘The Stanhope’ and ‘Tyne Railway’, which were the steam train systems to be created in South Shields. Some of the goods they transported were Coal and Limestone.

As the population of the area increased so did the industry as more workers were readily available. South Shields is now known as seaside resort, tourist attraction and famed for it’s attractive beaches and excellent restaurants on Ocean Road.

Today the Rekendyke Estate and the surrounding area is under a revitalization from the Rekendyke Partnership, est. 2004. There is new housing currently under construction and the decaying Frederick Street is being pulled down and revamped in order to rejuvenate the area. This is great news for both the people around the estate and local businesses as the change will offer a more revitalized and healthy look for the area, which should bring commerce to the area. This is a great opportunity for the North East to try and bring back some of the old industry that the North once had. This is very exciting and we should see big changes in the near future.